Very inspiring and I found
the movie "The Immortals" to be as well
The A-Team
mil adviser Paul Maurice and very well done
Aeon Flux
Alien
I saw this at the theater
and it scared me half to death
funny story, I was suffering from IBS at the time from work stress and
it would always hit at certain times, one of them was about 3am.
The discomfort in my sleep would cause me every time to see the
creature starting to chew its way out of my chest!
I believe that Ridley Scott
used the same method to keep suspense as the 1951 "The Thing"
in both environment and the use of the geiger counter (Motion Detector)
instead of something-bad-will-happen music. Totally effective.
If you read or see the
director voice-over, you find the length he went for detail. The
Alien egg pods didn't have the right look in the first shots, so he
found and used cow stomach and tripe to fill the inside of the
translucent egg pod. In order to keep with his very biological
theme, the Face Hugger and its proboscis were made of sheep intestine.
In George Romero's
original "Night of the Living Dead" (1968!), not only did he use locals
as extras, for the scene where the zombies decended on the car wreakage
to feed, he
had a local butcher pull up with a truck full of offal and entrails and
dump it in a pile which the zombies were filmed eating.
Alien versus Predator
a fun no-brainer set in
Antarctica with a good kick-ass female lead.
Aliens
this movie is like a "Rocky
Horror" for me. I know so many of the lines.
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Absolute classic, the best
scientific/technical knowledge at the time. The space probes sent
out recently to look for space-borne biological material (e.g. Japan)
andthe Russian dig into an untouched underground Antarctic lake always
make me think of this movie.
The Andromeda Strain (2008)
Angel-A (France)
sweet and fun movie
Avatar
As Good as it Gets
Sweet movie
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Jim Carrey as the creepy guy
in this children's novel made into a movie is terrific as usual.
Battle: Los Angeles
I enjoyed this movie a lot,
loved the music from the first quiet teaser - fits my mood I guess
The true story of an eight
man SAS team (called a 'stick') during Desert Storm who's mission was
to perform Strategic Reconnaisance deep inside of Iraq, were discovered and faced an
escape and evasion to Syria 100miles away while being pursued by the
Iraqi army the entire distance.
Four team members
survived,were captured and held at Abu Ghirab prison.
Ryan made SAS history with the
"longest escape and evasion by a SAS trooper or any other soldier," to
make it to Syria, covering 100 miles (160 km)
over the top and quirky
science fiction movie. A cult classic. "Wherever you
go, there you are" and "Laugh while you can monkey boy" come from this
film
I'm going to brag
here. This company in England is run by one of my best friends
and mentors!
They have consulted on
some of the best movies as well as training the actors thoroughly (and
advising the directors) with the mostwell done actions scenes ever.
Colombiana
Conan
Cowboys and Aliens
Chrysalis (France)
Contagion
Extremely accurate depiction
of the events which will follow a viral pandemic. I have the
gov't documents outlining their SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
If you've enjoyed the books
The Hot Zone, Virus Hunter or The Bacteria which Wouldn't Die - or if
you've an interest in microbiology, you'll love this movie.
Crank
Cyrano de Bergerac (Depardieu, France)
absolutely beautiful
Dark Angel First Season Collection
Dark Angel Second Season Collection
Dark Star
A real cult classic by John
Carpenter who also wrote the music. Low budget an
the list of actors and crew show people who became immensly successful
after. This one of my very favorite fun low-budget Science
Fiction films along with "A Boy and His Dog."
The scene where the planet
destroying intelligent bomb refuses to drop and the captain uses
existential philosophy to try to convince it to follow orders is genius.
"The film is notable for its
depiction of parkour in a number of stunt sequences that were completed
without the use of wires or computer generated effects. Because of
this, some critics have drawn comparisons to the popular Thai film
Ong-Bak."
This movie is made from the
popular video game of the 90s.
I'd give the movie two stars, but the room and hallway
clearing action is well-done and the actors did a fine job.
Very bad scene warning: When the futuristic solders
perform their magazine-lock-and-load will make anyone familiar with
firearms either convulse or laugh out loud!
"ex-Army, 25 years, been in every
theater of war you can imagine."
To portray elite soldiers, the
core cast would need to learn everything about how a soldier acts,
moves and speaks. This challenge fell to consultant Tom McAdams, who
had spent almost three decades serving in the military. McAdams joined
the company to take the actors through an abbreviated but intensive
two-week-long “boot camp.” This included courses in weaponry,
ammunitions, first aid and communications. McAdams trained the core
team with Kalashnikov blank-round-firing AK-47s, though they would all
carry different weapons in the film. Note: Accuratus trains
their actors on live-fire ranges.
“I formulated a basic program,
which started with familiarization of weapons systems”strip and
assembling, hold and aiming, stoppage drills, loading, unloading, ”all
the things that a basic soldier would have to know,” McAdams explains.
“Even though some of the actors have used weapons previously in films,
they didn’t have the depth of knowledge that I wanted to give them.
When they picked up the weapon, they had to handle it correctly.
Everything they did needed to look exactly how Special Forces would do
it like they’ve had years of experience soldiering.”
Drive Angry
great dark action/comedy
Eagle Eye
technical advisor FBI, Thomas
Knowles, former FBI Agent and Section Chief
Director of the CIA's public
affairs office arranged several tours of Langley for the film's
principals
Tech Adviser: Don Ferranone
former `Special Agent in Charge'
for the DEA as well as a U.S. Marshal. He's managed offices in
Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Burma. He provided us with invaluable
technical and creative input; he helped us create a new third act by
applying his real life experiences from actual operations."
Harry Potter 7 (Deathly Hallows part II extended release)
This is the series of novels
which brought back my joy of reading.
Heat
tech advisor; Mick Gould (22 SAS)
How to Train Your Dragon
The Hurt Locker
I Am Legend (just got - new extended two disc with alternate
version)
I love this movie and
identify with it
Idiocracy
Kill Bill 2
Killer Elite (2011)
Fun. Good scenes of
Brecon Beacons
The Kiss of the Dragon
Knight and Day
It's hard not to like a movie with
Cameron Diaz and she and Tom Cruise had terrific chemistry. Fun
seeing Tom play a slightly crazed guy.
Also there were some
technical tidbits I was amazed at - when she was the passenger of a car
of agents who tried to abduct her, everyone but she gets shot, Cameron
takes over the controls of the SUV in exactly the same manner I was
taught during EPI/HighRisk training. My mouth dropped open when I
saw that.
Ladyhawke (VHS)
There is a scene in this
movie so close to my heart that it is wrenching. A sword and
sorcery film with 80s background music.
In medieval Europe, a
thief called "The Mouse" escapes the dungeons of Aquila, setting in
motion a chain of events that may save or destroy a beautiful woman and
a brave captain. The two lovers are doomed to lifelong separation by a
demonic curse invoked by the corrupt and jealous Bishop of Aquila: by
day Isabeau is transformed into a hawk, while at night Navarre becomes
a black wolf. (Wikipedia)
They are forever close yet forever separated (very close to home).
Perhaps it's best to see
this scene in the context of the movie. I have it yet have mixed
feelings about a link to it.
The Lake House
La Bûche (France "The Yule Log")
A French parents and
daughters movie. Excellent.
Le Diner des Cons (hilarious comedy, France, "The Dinner Game")
Legion
Not for extreme
Christians. Otherwise a very entertaining movie with some amazing
scenes (click)
The most moving scene in the
movie and shows Paul Bettany's gift of acting (click)
Live Free or Die Hard
The Long Kiss Goodnight
tech advisor; Mick Gould (22 SAS)
Man on Fire (2004)
One of my favorites and one
of the best movies ever in this genre
my attempt at a cold
reading of his soliloquy (click)
Punisher (2004)
Punisher: War Zone (2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher:_War_Zone
"Prior to filming, Stevenson read every possible issue of The
Punisher MAX, underwent endurance, martial arts, and weapons training
with former Force Recon Marines and film fight choreographer Pat
Johnson." <- The Making-of video shows the CQB/MRC training
A Quantum of Solace
I do like very much this
darker characterization of James Bond
Redbelt
David Mamet directed.
A film about his passion for Jiu-Jitsu. I'd give it two and a
half to three stars.
Real Steel
A real surprise of a family
film. Story by Richard Mattheson (Twilight Zone, Stark Trek and I
Am Legend). Hugh Jackman was incredible.
you might even remember
the 1963 Twilight Zone episode of this story (click).
Red (2010)
Outstanding (look at the
cast). Some technical inside jokes. Helen Mirrin is always
wonderful.
e.g. when the friends go
to Bruce Willis' arms storage, see if you can tell which subgun John
Malkovich picks up and why ;)
The Replacement Killers (1998,
Myra Sorvino, Chow Yun-Fat, dir: Antoine Fuqua)
tech advisor; Mick Gould (22 SAS)
Yesss! I not only love Myra Sorvino, but she gets to use
a Browning High Power (the old SAS standard sidearm).
Resident Evil (All)
Do I identify with
Alice? Yeah, but really I'd like to be as fearless as her
character.
The first was beautifully
done, a lot of elements from the game and if you listen to the
director/cast voice over you find out how creepy the mansion location
actually was.
The scene early in the movie
with the zombie limping towards the team with his foot at a 90 degree
angle? One of the extras could actually dislocate his foot to
that position. It was not an effect!
The second was fun and again
reminds me of how close to the truth a pandemic city isolation will be.
The third, Resident Evil
Extinction is my favorite and she utilizes blades I've known about
since High School. The traditional weapon of the Nepalese Gurkha
and more effective than the movie shows. Love Claire Redfield and
this movie gives Milla Jovovich to show her romantic side.
Romeo and Juliet (Zefferelli)
The best Romeo and Juliet
film.
Ronin
tech advisor; Mick Gould (22 SAS)
Sense and Sensibility (UK)
Wonderful classic.
Snape plays the real gentleman who loves from afar and is ignored.
Throughout the film, Swagger uses an array of sniper weapons,
among which are the USMC M40A3,[4] the CheyTac Intervention,[5] and the
Barrett M82 sniper rifles. Donnie Fenn used an M4A1 with a Cobray 37mm
Launcher (commonly used by TV and movie armorers as a stand-in for the
M203 grenade launcher) and M68 Close Combat Optic in the African
opening sequences. A pair of Remington 700Ps were bought by Swagger and
Memphis while on the run. Other weapons used by Swagger include a
Beretta M9 and a commandeered M4A1 with an Aimpoint Sight, in the fight
against the 24 mercenaries and a Colt M1911-A1 and a suppressed M4A1 in
the final scene. Swagger's old 22 rifle used on the lake scene is a
Cooey model 60. Precision Remote's TRAP.
Shrek
A friend of mine said, no
one can make a romantic movie as good as an animated one :)
Sleepless in Seattle
Sniper
Although there are some tech
mistakes, this was one of the first popular movies showing what
modern military snipers can do. I still enjoy it!
Sniper3
Sniper Reloaded
Somewhere in Time
I have about six movies
which are guaranteed to make me sob. This is one.
The Source Code
Well done and the scene
showing who the hero actually is touched me deeply and haunted me for a
long time.
Spartan
Eric L. Haney, a retired U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major who
operated in SFOD-D, Delta Force, was the technical advisor, and briefly
appears.
Beautiful.
Haunting. Not at all scary and shows some sides of Japanese
culture most might not recognize. Hand made animation with no
computer graphics at all. Great attention was made to the three
languages I listened to (Japanese, English and French). I've
never heard translations so close to perfect before.
Spun (uncut)
Very quirky low budget
looking comedy about meth users. Funny, accurate and very real
looking.
The Spy Who Loved Me
Strange Days (1995)
A movie directed by Kathryn
Bigelow and co-written and produced by James Cameron. I can't
describe it better than Wikipedia (click)
The
director was also an artist and each shot is composed beautifully.
The
director obviously created passion for creating the movie the same way
her ex-husband James Cameron did when he made Terminator II.
Terminator
II was made at the time of the beginning of Desert Storm and the
director and cast felt as if they were on a mission to show what might
happen if the war became a global one.
If
you know about the events leading up to and during the LA Riots (1992),
the director made the same use of passion to craft a what-if movie
related to the riots.
I need to get an "I
Survived the LA Riots" t-shirt since I was there and affected by it.
The Sword of Doom (Japan)
a must-have classic for
anyone interested in Kenjutsu (Japanese sword technique). Noir.
Taken (2008, Liam
Neeson)
tech advisor; Mick Gould (22 SAS)
The Steel Helmet (1951, The Korean War)
The Tailor of Panama
Tears of the Sun
tech advisor: Harry Humphries (ex-SEAL team 2)
http://www.navyseals.com/harry-humphries
The Thing (new)
The Thomas Crown Affair
The re-make is lovely and
better than the original.
Time Bomb (1991, VHS, Michael Biehn, Patsy Kensit, dir Avi Nesher)
"Describing his experience, Quaid commented "We were there
for two weeks before we started shooting. We trained as a team, as a
Secret Service unit, of these guys. The president never goes anywhere
that it's not choreographed well in advance. That’s what we would do."
The Walking Dead (Season I two DVDs)
The Widow of Saint-Pierre (France)
Four stars.
X2: X-Men United
Ballet and Performing Arts (DVD)
ballet images (tbd)
ABT's Variety and Virtuosity
a wonderful collection of the greatest works by the 90s young
stars of ABT
another wonderful selection with dancers from the 80s
Coppélia, The Austrailian Ballet
Don Quixote, ABT (Cynthia
Harvey, Bryshnikov)
one of my very favorite ballets to introduce to new people!
Don Quixote (Nuryev)
Étoiles of the Paris Opera Ballet
Figure Skating Nationals, Jan
15, 2005
Giselle, National Ballet of
Canada
Houston Ballet, Images, Journey,
Ghost Dances
Les Enfants de le Danse
dancers at the Paris Opera Ballet
Napoli (Western Ballet)
Nuryev; Bell Telephone
Performances
Off Ice Training for Figure
Skaters (2 vol)
Pilobolus Dance Theater, 1977
Romeo and Juliet (Kirov)
Romeo and Juliet (Western
Ballet, Marcie)
Beautifully done and naturally the balcony scene is my favorite
Sleeping Beauty, The Royal Ballet
Swan Lake (Kirov at Wolf Trap)
Video Dictionary of Classical
Ballet (two volumes)
Many, many school performances
(tbd)
Music
too many to do now (tbd) classical, movie soundtracks, vocal
click to enlarge (you can see the
titles that way)
I try to conquer my fears with
things like self-defense (armed/unarmed combat training) which is all
some people see of me but
this is that which is closest to my heart.
Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun dance
the Balcony Scene from John
Cranko's version of "Romeo and Juliet". Filmed for German television in
the 1970's. Music by Sergei Prokofiev. Stuttgart Ballet Company.
Even for someone like me who has seen hundereds of ballets, this is
stunning, my favorite choreography and moving. Haydee and
Cragun's artistry and technique is unbelieveable!!
Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968),
death scene
(I would have started the clip a little earlier - perhaps I'll be able
to do that later)
my little prologue to this movie with Nino Rota's music from
Zeferelli's movie :)
Cyrano de Bergerac's death scene
There is no story which is so close to my life and if I was ever lucky
in life...I fear that it will be more like Romeo and Juliet
(I should download and re-subtitle it)
CYRANO "Ma chère, ma chérie, [My dear, my beloved, ] "Mon trésor..." [my treasure...]
ROXANE, rêveuse [dreaming]
D'une voix... [With a voice..]
CYRANO "Mon amour..." [My love...]
ROXANE
D'une voix... [With a voice..]
Elle tressaille. [she quivers]
Mais... que je n'entends pas pour la première fois ! [But... this
is the first time I've ever heard it read!]
Elle s'approche tout doucement, sans qu'il s'en aperçoive, passe
derrière le fauteuil se penche sans bruit, regarde la lettre. - L'ombre
augmente. [She comes close slowly, without him noticing, goes behind
his chair, and without a sound looks at the letter . - Darkness
increases.]
CYRANO "Mon
coeur ne vous quitta jamais une seconde,[my heart never
left you even for one second] "Et je suis et serai
jusque dans l'autre monde [and I am and will be in another world]
"Celui qui vous
aima sans mesure, celui..."
[He who loved you beyond measure, the one...]
Violin: Mayuko Kamio (21 yrs old)
Conductor: Koichiro Harada
Japan Philharmonic Orchestra
Meditation from Thais, Massenet
Vladimir Horowitz plays Ludwig van
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
Movement 1, Adagio
'Titanic' Theme Song
My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion, 1997
(I saw this movie at least five times at the theater and more at home)
Starship Troopers, Dizzy's death
(yes, another starcrossed love from afar)
Bruce
Almighty, Grace's Prayer
this one is close to home
Movie Legion, Archangel Michael's
explanation to Jeep to why he alone
fights for humankind
(a beautiful scene which brought a zombie-like action movie to a
different level)
MOVIES WHICH I'VE ENJOYED
AND LOVED BUT DO NOT OWN
Science Fiction Movie list and reviews (click)
32 Science Fiction novels to read (click)
Few films about Los Angeles and this one is lovely. There
is a wonderful story about how it was written and what happened to
Steve Martin during and after.
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in
the Hood
The Ghost and the Shadow
Falling Down
Michael Douglas
an aerospace engineer going postal - with gripes of the average
person
2010
The Rock
Outbreak
a story about an Ebola-like virus beginning to go pandemic
The Manhattan Project
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
The Jackal (1997, Bruce Willis, Richard Gere)
Amélie
Shall We Dance (Japan)
Dead Man on Campus
Dude, Where is My Car?
Jurassic Park
Predator
Predator II
some local LA color; a what if the crime wave of the early 80s
became law
Repo Man
The Sentinel
Michael Douglas - a USSS story
Switch
Ellen Barkin
A Boy and His Dog
A League of their own
In the Line of Fire
Firefox
Every Which Way But Loose
Scanners
Sin City
The Sixth Sense
The Whole Ten Yards
Westworld
The Last Mimsy
the story "Mimsy were the Borogoves" was wonderful
The Day After Tomorrow
Basic Instinct
Black Rain
The Madness of King George
Traffic (brrrr)
Dream Child (1985)
The Last Dragon
Back to the Future
From Dusk till Dawn
Kill Bill
Pulp Fiction
The Right Stuff
Brazil
Time Bandits
Chariots of Fire
Matrix series
Ace Ventura
Peggy Sue got Married
Dark City
Freeway
little known movie with Kiefer Sutherland - excellent
Gran Torino
A Few Good Men
Flatliners
Full Metal Jacket
The Saint (Val Kilmer)
Sudden Impact
Angel Heart (1987)
this movie will haunt you
Space Cowboys
Deep Impact
films about comet/asteroid impacting the earth (click)
Armaggedon
The Bridges of Madison County
yes, love like that does exist
Heartbreak Ridge
Chain Reaction
Thunderheart (Val Kilmer)
LA Confidential
The X-Files
The newer Batman movies
The Package
Dune (the newer one)
Air America
The Immortals
Dumb and Dumber
Bruce Almighty
Scrooged
The Truman Show
Less than Zero
The Cable Guy (Jim Carrey)
I actually can't watch this because of personal experiences
it was billed and advertised as a comedy
Weird Science
The Nerds series
Footloose
The Flight of the Phoenix
The Longest Day
The Alamo
Dragonheart
Inner Space
Enemy Mine
The Right Stuff
Apollo 13
Dreamscape
The Hunted
Men in Black
Johnny Mnemonic
Vampires (John Carpenter)
The Village of the Damned
Big Trouble in Little China
The Golden Child
Tombstone
Tango and Cash
Lost in Space
The Mummy
Top Gun
I worked there once
Winter People
w/ Kelly McGillis
Speed
Point Break
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
The Robocop series
the first is a dark comedy
the first time a Barrett is used in a feature film "I LIKE
IT!"
the second is also a dark comedy with some great jabs at
defense companies
The second has some of the funniest scenes with robot soldiers
not working properly
the bad guy in the second plays a functioning genius
drug-addict superbly
one of my favorite scenes is where he tries a brand new and
untested designer drug and is such a connaiseur that he gives the
chemist new direction from how he reacts.
